Ink adjusting mechanism



FIG. 1b

May 26, 1964 Filed Jan. 16, 1962 with...

E. W. WORTHINGTON ETAL INK ADJUSTING MECHANISM 6 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTORS EMORY W WORTHINGTON ANGWORTHY JAMES R. L

CHARLES S. HUFFS ITH ATTORNE y 26, 1964 E. w WORTHINGTON ETAL 3,134,325

INK ADJUSTING MECHANISM 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 16, 1962 GWORTHYUFFSMITH 1 W4}, ATTORNEYS INVENTORS RY W. WORTHlNGTON MES R. LAN BYCHARLES S H jw M X O 1/ l //////d E EMO 3A May 26, 1964 E. w.WORTHINGTON ETAL 3,

INK ADJUSTING MECHANISM Filed Jan. 16, 1962 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 -nrlmlllINVENTORS EMORY, W. WORTHINGTON JAMES R. LANGWORTHY w 8. HUFFSMITH A 7ATTORNEYS y 6, 1964 E. w. WORTHINGTON ETAL 3,134,325

INK ADJUSTING MECHANISM 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Jan. 16, 1962 "Hill'-lmlllmlmlih' IN EMORY RTHINGTON JAMES R. LANG RTHY BY CHARLES s HU MITHM, 41% H VENTORS w. wo

M. $1116 f ATTORNEYS y 26, 1964 E. w. WORTHINGTON ETAL 3,134,325

INK ADJUSTING MECHANISM 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Jan. 16, 1962 I Ill: 1:

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r 3,134,325 Ice Patented May 26, 1964 Ni, assignors to Wood NewspaperMachinery Crpo-' ration, Plainfield, N1, a corporation of Virginia FiledJan. 16, 1962, Ser. No. M6540 3 Claims. (Q1. 101-365) This inventionrelates generally to adjustment mechanisms for printing press inkfountains and more specifically to a novel construction and arrangementof parts used in the adjustment mechanism.

There has been a need in the printing press industry for an ink controladjustment that can quickly, efliciently, and accurately increase anddecrease the ink supply to both a columnar and a page-wide portion of afountain roll. Many conventional ink control devices utilize a flexibleblade to vary the amount of ink on a fountain roll. Often thecontrols'used to flex the blades associated with these mechanisms arelocated adjacent the blade and fountain roll, both of which are usuallysituated near the bottom of the press making accessibility to thecontrols difficult.

A difficulty inherent in many ink control mechanisms that are operatedfrom remote control positions is that there is no means associated withthe control mechanism that will give an accurate representation of theamount that a blade has been flexed which in turn controls the amount ofink on the fountain roll. This lack of means indicating flexure of ablade requires test runs of the press to insure that the ink on thefountain roll is in the desired amount and at the desired position onthe roll, all of which takes time.

Still a further diihculty with conventional inking mechanisms is thatthe flexible blade may be brought into forceable contact with thefountain roll resulting in darnage to the roll. This is particularlytrue where the blade is flexed by mechanical means incorporating powerdevices and where the adjpstment and flexure is made for a number ofcolumns at the same time.

it is an object of our invention to provide for an ink control mechanismwhich is remote controlled and which may selectively increase anddecrease ink applied to either colunnar or page-wide portions of afountain roll while, at the same time, provide a visual indication ofthe amount of flexure of the blade controlling the amount of ink on thefountain roll. It is a further object of our invention to provide ameans for preventing over-flexure of the blade, thus preventingresultant damage to the fountain roll.

According to our invention, we provide for an ink adjusting mechanismfor a press unit which has a flexible blade extending the length of afountain roll. The ink adjusting mechanism flexes the blade to controlthe amount of ink along selective portions of the fountain roll. The inkcontrol mechanism broadly comprises a reversible drive means, aplurality of rotatable screws positioned along the length of the bladewith each screw being intermittently operatively associated with theblade to flex the blade, and selectively controlled clutch means foroperatively connecting the drive and screw means. The clutch means inturn comprises a second gear continually contacting the drive means, athird gear, and a pivotaole shaft connecting the second and third gears.A first gear is mounted on the screw means and is adapted to beintermittently engaged by the third gear contained on the clutch meanswhen a remote control means is actuated to pivot the shaft and cause thethird gear to mesh with the first gear.

In addition visual means are provided to indicate the amount of movementof the drive means, and stop means are provided to limit movement of thescrew means and to cause automatic disengagement of the clutch meansconnecting the drive means with the screw means.

An ink control device constructed according to our invention allows anoperator to vary the flexure of a blade from a remote control station byoperating a series of switches to cause the reversible drive means tomove in a desired direction and, at the same time, to cause selectedclutch means to engage or disengage the screw means to vary the flexureof the blade at particular positions along the length of the blade.Visual indicator means indicate the amount of movement of the drivemeans and thus the amount of flexure of the blade.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent asthe following description proceeds, taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings, in which: I

FIGS. 1a and 1b are plan views of the ink control mechanism with partsbroken away;

FIG. 2 is an enlmged sectional view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1bshowing details of the ink control mech anism;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 3-3 of FIG. 1bshowing construction details of the clutch;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken along line 44 of FIG. 112;

FIG. 5 is a front view showing the layout of the switches on the remotecontrol panel board;

FIG. 6 is a view taken along line 66 of KG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a schematic wiring diagram of the electrical connectionsbetween the remote control panel and the ink adjusting mechanism.

Referring to FIGS. la and 1b, 10 denotes generally the structure whichhouses the ink adjusting mechanism used to control the thickness of theink on a fountain roll 11 by flexure of a blade 12. A cover portion 13is partially broken away to show the layout of individual clutch unitsgenerally designated by 14 used in flexing portions of the blade andwhich are spaced at designated intervals along the length of the blade12 so that there is one clutch unit for each column. Each of theseclutch units 14 operatively connect a driving means comprising a drivebelt 17 and a reversible drive motor 19 with a screw means 20 more fullyexplained hereafter to flex portions of the blade.

The cogged, endless reversible belt 17 extends substantially the lengthof the fountain roll and is operatively associated with each of theclutch units 14 spaced along the blade. The endless belt 17 is carriedby pulleys 21 and 22 supported by the press housing structure at eitherend of the fountain roll 11. The pulley 21 is connected to a shaft 23which has a grooved disc 24 attached to one end. A spur gear 25 isattached to the other end of the shaft which gear in turn meshes with aspur gear 26 driven by the reversible drive 19. A spring and ballmechanism 27 contained in gear 25 fits into a detent in the shaft 23 toprovide a convenient and efficient overload protection which causes thegear 25 to slip on shaft 23 when the motor 1? is overloaded. A hingedcover 28 provides access to an ink well 29 into which the fountain roll11 extends. While a cogged belt is illustrated, it is apparent that itcould be substituted by a roller chain.

FlG. 2 illustrates in greater detail the construction of the inkadjusting mechanism associated with each column width of the blade 12,the clutch means 14 and the manner in which screw means 20 deflects theblade 12. Each of the screws 20 has a first gear 30 thereon and isthreaded into a carrying plate 31 extending the length of blade 12 so asto move axially when rotated. An end 32 of the screw engages a lever 33which has a cam surface 34 on one end engaging the flexible blade 12. Ahandle 2% is also included on the screw for manual adjustment.

The lever 33 is urged into contact with end 32 by the force of theflexed blade acting on the cam surface 34 and also by means of a plunger35 urged by a spring 36. An adjustable stop 37 limits movement in onedirection of the plunger and thus the lever 33 so that the blade 12'Will not come into contact with the roll 11 and so damage it. It isseen that a relatively large axial movement of screw 20 will produce amuch smaller corresponding movement of the cam surface 34 which helps toinsure accurate flexing of the blade and thus accurate and precisecontrol of ink on the roll 11.

Each of the clutch units selectively operatively connecting the belt toa screw means comprises generally a second gear 49 in continuous meshingengagement with the cogged belt 17. Gear 40 in turn is joined by apivotable shaft 41 to a third gear 43 adapted to intermittently meshwith the first gear 30 contained on screw 20. The shaft 41 is covered bya bushing 44 with arms 45 mounted in a bracket 46 mounted on thecarrying plate 31 as shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4. The bushing 44, shaft 41and third gear 43 are urged to pivot about the arms 45 by a compressionspring 47 positioned between the bushing 44 and a belt supporting member48 so that gear 43 is normally out of meshing engagement with gear 30.

The clutch unit 14 selectively operatively connects the belt 17 with oneof the screw means 20 by means of a clutch control means denotedgenerally by 50. The clutch control means comprises generally a solenoid51, a linearly movable bar 52, and an arm 53 connecting the bar 52 whichis joined to bushing 44. Energization of solenoid 51 will cause movementof the bar 52 towards the right as shown in FIG. 2, which causes thebushing 44 and shaft 41 to pivot about arm 45 against the force ofcompression spring 47 and bring gear 43 into meshing engagement withgear 30. A return spring 54 serves to provide a flexible joint betweenarm 53 and bar 52. In addition, spring 54 insures that the armature ofthe solenoid 51 will be in the full in or bottomed position when thesolenoid is energized in order to prevent overheating. Also spring 54assists meshing engagement of gears 43 and 30 by urging them togetherwhen the belt 17 is moved in the event that the teeth of the gears arenot in meshing engagement after the solenoid is energized because oftooth interference.

An important feature of the clutch construction described is that theclutch unit 14 will automatically disconnect the drive means from thescrews when the blade has been flexed to a predetermined limit. This isan important feature particularly when the entire blade is moved at thesame time towards the fountain roll with the drive means in operatingengagement with all of the screw means and one portion of the blade iscloser to the fountain roll than other portions of the blade. Theautomatic disconnections of a particular clutch unit insures that theportion of the blade nearest the roll will not contact the roll eventhough the driving means is operating.

In the construction shown, when the plunger 35 con tacts the adjustablestop 37, axial movement of the screw 20 will stop. Reaction forcesbetween the teeth of gears 43 and 30 in combination with the force ofthe compression spring 47 will overcome the force of return spring 54 tocause the shaft 41 to pivot and lift gear 43 out of meshing engagementwith gear 30 even though solenoid 51 is energized.

Referring to FIG. 4, there is illustrated a limit switch 60 which isactuated by the grooves of disc 24 to actuate an indicator light 61contained on a control panel 70 illustrated in FIG. 5. Actuation of theswitch 60 is directly proportional to movement of the belt 17 andsubsequent flexure of the blade 12.

FIG. shows the layout of the control panel at a remote control station.The panel is designated generally by the number 70 and is comprised of aseries of two-way control switches 71 arranged in four groups eachhaving nine switches. This particular arrangement is meant for use witha press printing a web four pages wide with nine columns per page. Asecond series of group control switches designated as 72 are adjacent toeach group of nine switches. The indicating light 61 is centrallylocated on the panel above the switches. The switches located in thegroup of nine are marked from one to nine and have markings indicatingtheir two-way function as follows: IN and OUT. The individual switcheslocated adjacent to the group switches are marked ALL in lieu of one tonine and are also marked with IN and OUT. The numerals 73 and 74designate the trunk means, also shown in FIG. 1, which lead thenecessary wiring connecting the remote control panel with the limitswitch, the drive motor, and the pivotable clutch control means.

FIG. 6 illustrates switch 71 and how it is pivoted at its center line at75 to allow the two-way operation.

The operation of the ink adjustment mechanism can best be explained inconjunction with the schematic wiring diagram of FIG. 7. Succinctlystated the operator at the remote control station controls the amount ofink delivered to a selected portion of the fountain roll by pressing oneof the switches located on the panel board 70. Each one of the switchesdenoted generally by 71 is electrically connected to an individualsolenoid 51 which controls the individual clutch mechanisms spaced alongthe flexible blade 12. Additionally, the switches make contact with anelectrical wire leading to either IN or OUT reversing relays which inturn are wired to operate the reversible driving motor 19. Still furtherwhen the switch is pressed either to the IN or OUT position electricalcontact is made with the limit switch 60. If the operator wants the inkto the fountain roll to be decreased, he presses the switch to the INposition to move or flex the blade toward the roll 11. For example, ifthe operator wishes to decrease the ink supply to column 9 of page 1 onthe press, he merely pushes the switch designated 9 in the first groupof switches as shown in FIG. 5. With reference to the electrical diagramshown in FIG. 7, when the column 9 switch is pressed to the IN position,a contact marked contacts a wire 81 leading to a motor reversing relay82 which in turn is Wired to the reversible drive motor 19 so that itcan be driven in such a direction that the blade 12 will be flexedtoward the fountain roll 11. The motor reversing relay is also adaptedto drive the reversible motors in the opposite direction when the switchon column 9 is pressed to the OUT position. That is when the contact 80makes contact with a line 84 as clearly shown in FIG. 7 which also leadsto the motor reversing relay 82. Simultaneously with the contact of 80and the wire 81, a contact 85 contacts a line 86 to energize thesolenoid used in association with column 9. Connection of contact 80with the relay through the wire 81 and contact 85 and wire 86 alsocompletes the electrical circuit through a line 88 to the limit switch60 allowing the indicator light 61 to flash intermittently. The operatoris then able to control the ink supply at a selected portion of theblade 12 by merely pressing the switches generally marked 71 either tothe IN or OUT position. These switches effectively control the inksupply to either a columnar or page-wide position of a newspaper.

The operator controls the ink supply to a page-wide portion of a pressby merely pressing one of the switches generally marked 72. Pressingthis switch to either the IN or OUT position actuates a relay 89 whichcloses a series of contacts generally marked 90 which in turn aotuatesthe solenoids associated with all of the columns marked 1-9. In thisparticular embodiment nine columns comprise the width of a newspaperpage so that pressing this AL button either increases or decreases theink across an entire page.

Once the switch is pressed, the operator can determin the amount bywhich the ink is controlled by counting the flashes that appear in thevisual indicator marked 61.

These flashes indicate the amount of movement of the endless beltbecause as stated before the disc 24 is connected to the same shaft 23that drives the endless belt 17.

Once the solenoids are energized either individually or collectively,the third gear in an actuated clutch unit is brought into meshingcontact with an associated first gear on an adjustable screw. The firstgear in the clutch unit continually meshes with the endless belt so thatthe direction of rotation of the rotatable screw is determined by thedirection in which the endless belt is moved to fiex the blade asdescribed previously.

It is thus seen that an ink adjusting mechanism constructed according toour invention provides an accurate ink contact which may be locatedremote from the blade 12 at any convenient spot. It is further seen thatthe mechanism incorporates a feature to prevent damage to the fountainroll by over-flexure of the blade when the ink control mechanism isoperated.

A further feature of our invention is that a single remote control panelmay control the ink supplied to more than one press. Often when printingnewspapers of large circulations, as many as six presses will beprinting the same pages at the same time so making a common controldesirable.

The description of our invention will suggest to those skilled in theart variations that are not without the purview of our inventiveconcept. Specifically, this embodiment shows a panel board that has beenset up for ink adjustment of a press having four pages of nine columnseach. We do not intend to be limited to an adjusting mechanism capableof handling this specific number of columns and pages and it is obviousthe board set up could be varied to accommodate different page andcolumnar combinations and still come within the scope of our invention.

We claim:

1. In a press unit having a flexible blade extending along the length ofa fountain roll for controlling the amount of ink on said roll, an inkadjusting mechanism forflexing the blade at specified portionscomprising:

(a) reversible endless belt drive means,

(12) a plurality of rotatable screw means positioned along the length ofsaid blade being operatively associated with portions of said blade tovary the flexure thereof,

(c) a plurality of selectively controlled clutch means with each suchclutch means operatively connecting one of said screw means with saidendless belt drive means, and each said clutch means having a driveportion in continuous contact with said drive means and a driven portionin intermittent contact with said screw means whereby said drive meansmay rotate one or more screw means at one time to selectively flexportions of said blade.

2. In a press unit according to claim 1 wherein said ink adjustingmechanism has in addition:

(d) stop means co-operating with each of said selectively controlledclutch means causing said clutch means to operatively disengage saidscrew means from said drive means when a selected portion of said bladeis flexed to a predetermined limit.

3. In a press unit according to claim 2 wherein said ink adjustingmechanism has in addition:

(e) visual indicating means operated by said reversible endless beltdrive means for indicating the amount of movement thereof.

4. An ink control mechanism for a press having a flexible bladeextending along the length of a fountain roll for varying the amount ofink thereon comprising:

(a) reversible driving means,

(b) a plurality of rotatable screw means positioned along the length ofsaid blade being operatively asso ciated with portions of said blade tovary the flexure thereof,

(c) a first gear on each said screw means,

(d) a pivotable clutch means for each of said screw means for drivinglyconnecting said reversible drive means to said screw, having a secondgear continually in contact with said drive means and a third gear forintermittently contacting said first gear, and a pivotable shaftconnecting said second and third gears whereby said third gear may moveinto and out of meshing engagement with said first gear.

5. An ink control mechanism according to claim 4 10 wherein said inkcontrol mechanism has in addition:

(e) remote controlled means associated with each of said pivotableclutch means for moving said third gear into meshing engagement withsaid first gear whereby said reversible drive means rotates said screwthe number of turns of said screw determining the amount of flexure ofsaid blade.

6. An ink control mechanism for a press having a flexible bladeextending along the length of a fountain roll for varying the amount ofink thereon comprising:

(a) reversible driving means,

(b) a plurality of rotatable screw means positioned alongthe length ofsaid blade being operatively associated with portions of said blade tovary the flexure thereof,

(c) a first gear on each of said screw means,

(d) a pivotable clutch means for each of said screw means for drivinglyconnecting said reversible drive means to said screw, having a secondgear continually in contact with said drive means and a third gear forintermittently contacting said first screw, and a pivotable shaftconnecting said second and third gears,

(e) stop means for co-operating with each of said pivotable clutch meansfor causing said clutch means to operatively disengage said screw meansfrom said drive means when a selected portion of said blade is flexed toa predetermined position,

(f) visual indicating means operatively connected to said reversibledrive means for indicating the movement thereof,

(g) and, remote controlled means associated with each of said pivotableclutch means for moving said third gear into meshing engagement withsaid first gear whereby said reversible drive means rotates said screw,the number of turns of said screw determining the amount of flexure ofsaid blade.

7. An ink control mechanism for a press having a flexible bladeextending along the length of a fountain roll for varying the amount ofink thereon comprising:

(a) a reversible motor,

(b) a cogged endless belt driven by said motor and extending along thelength of said blade,

(0) a plurality of rotatable screws positioned along the length of saidblade wherein each of said screws has a first gear thereon,

(d) a pivotable lever having'a cam surface operatively associated witheach of said screws, said cam surface engaging said blade,

(e) lever spring means urging said pivotable lever into engagement withsaid screw,

( a pivotable clutch means for each of said screw means for drivinglyconnecting said endless belt to a rotatable screw, having a second gearcontinually contacting the cogs of said belt, a third gear forintermittently meshing with said first gear on said screw, and apivotable shaft connecting said second and third gears,

(g) a compression spring urging said third gear out of mesh with saidfirst gear,

(h) and,v a remote controlled electromagnetic means associated with eachsaid clutch for moving said third gear into mesh with said first gearagainst the force of said compression spring whereby when said motormoves said belt, said screw is rotated to pivot said lever and cause aportion of said blade to flex.

7 8 8. An ink control mechanism according to claim 7 (k) and, visualindicating means operated by said endhaving in addition: less belt toindicate movement thereof.

(i) a plurality of control switches for controlling said electromagneticmeans With a single said control References sued m the file of thlspatent switch for each said electromagnetic means to selec- 5 UNITEDSTATES PATENTS tively operate said electromagnetic means and said2,183,720 Lougee et al Dec. 19, 1939 reversible motor, 2,392,706 T331101et a1. Jan. 8, 1946 (j) a group control switch for selectively operatinga 2902927 R055 P 1959 plurality of said electromagnetic means and saidre- 10 FOREIGN PATENTS versible motor, 142,218 Australia July 16, 1951

1. IN A PRESS UNIT HAVING A FLEXIBLE BLADE EXTENDING ALONG THE LENGTH OFA FOUNTAIN ROLL FOR CONTROLLING THE AMOUNT OF INK ON SAID ROLL, AN INKADJUSTING MECHANISM FOR FLEXING THE BLADE AT SPECIFIED PORTIONSCOMPRISING: (A) REVERSIBLE ENDLESS BELT DRIVE MEANS, (B) A PLURALITY OFROTATABLE SCREW MEANS POSITIONED ALONG THE LENGTH OF SAID BLADE BEINGOPERATIVELY ASSOCIATED WITH PORTIONS OF SAID BLADE TO VARY THE FLEXURETHEREOF, (C) A PLURALITY OF SELECTIVELY CONTROLLED CLUTCH MEANS WITHEACH SUCH CLUTCH MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTING ONE OF SAID SCREW MEANSWITH SAID ENDLESS BELT DRIVE MEANS, AND EACH SAID CLUTCH MEANS HAVING ADRIVE PORTION IN CONTINUOUS CONTACT WITH SAID DRIVE MEANS AND A DRIVENPORTION IN INTERMITTENT CONTACT WITH SAID SCREW MEANS WHEREBY SAID DRIVEMEANS MAY ROTATE ONE OR MORE SCREW MEANS AT ONE TIME TO SELECTIVELY FLEXPORTIONS OF SAID BLADE.